We’ve all seen benches-clearing brawls – the AHL Rockford Ice Hogs engaged on one earlier this season.
But how many brawls inside the benches have you witnessed?
The Ice Hogs, the Chicago Blackhawks’ affiliate, and the Chicago Wolves (Vancouver Canucks) had a massive altercation at the players’ benches with just four seconds left in their game on Sunday night – one that included punches thrown between rivals on the Wolves’ bench, punches thrown between the benches, the goalies nearly getting involved and 27 penalties listed by the AHL.
Well that was fun.
The incident was sparked by Guillaume Desbiens of the Wolves running Ben Smith of Rockford into the players’ bench doorway. From the Rockford bench, Jeremy Morin threw punches at Desbiens, who then attacked Rob Flick on the Hogs’ bench, appearing to believe it was Flick that hit him. (Worst moment for a Flick since that tongue on a frozen flag pole.)
Meanwhile, Jim Vandermeer went after Wade Brookbank, eventually entering the Rockford bench to trade punches. Rockford assistant coach Ben Simon helped calm the scene down.
Here’s how the AHL listed the penalties. Not sure if there are duplicates. Rockford won the game, 2-1.
Oh, that “leaving the bench” penalty on Polasek doesn’t bode well.
Seriously, did you expect anything less from the Blackhawks and the Canucks’ minor league proxies?